Becks Scores, and Keano Hates the WAGs

With a brilliant free-kick strike against D.C., the bequeathing of Galaxy captaincy from Landon Donovan, an appearance in the SuperLiga final and an England call-up in the works, it appears as though the David Beckham experiment is finally beginning to run according to script. Perhaps some of the adversity of the past month has been a bit of a blessing in disguise, as it appears as though the hoopla was enabled to extend itself just a little bit longer than it would had everything gone swimmingly from the start. MLS has to finally be able to breathe a quick sigh of relief, what with Steve McLaren calling its standard "Championship top half, lower Premier," and with even more investors lining up to start up or sponsor clubs. Indeed, it would seem as though the league's profile is slowly rising.

"It was nice to see Cesc get in there; that showed the spirit you're going to see from us this year. People have been saying it's not his game to play like that but he's showed he can score, he can pass and he can kick people, so everything is perfect." - Gael Clichy, in my favorite quote of the week, after Cesc Fabregas got into it with Sparta Praha obhájce Thomas Repka. I can't say I'm quite convinced that Cesc can make the full transformation into a tough guy, but it's always fun to see a young player maturing into a great one.

I almost forgot to mention my favorite rant of the week, which comes from the always 'bout it Keano:
"Priorities have changed for footballers and they are being dictated to by their wives and girlfriends. I find it surprising that geography seems to play such a big part or that players let their wives decide. I think it's weak. You see it with a couple of big players now. Clearly their wives and girlfriends are running their lives and that's a bad sign. I realise it is part of the package and more so when there are children and schools involved, but ultimately you're a footballer. Retire at 35 or 36, you can live wherever you bloody well like -- London, Monaco, wherever -- and any half-decent footballer will be a multi-millionaire anyway. Why is there such a big attraction with London? It would be different if it was Chelsea, Arsenal or maybe Tottenham, but when they go to a smaller club just because it's in London, then it's clearly because of the shops. Their priorities are not the same as mine. We will do the best for our players' families, but we've had a player this summer who didn't even ring us back because his wife wanted to move to London. And shopping was mentioned. It might astonish many people, but it's true."

Roy Keane sounds pissed (and we all know he is not the kind of man you'd want to upset) - what happened, did he try to bring Sheva to Sunderland?